Jiro Dreams Of McRibs:Having just eaten some English Royal Stilton from Trader Joes, I'm convinced it was aged not on wood but on a pile of dog turds.

You can tell by the color that the Stilton at Trader Joe's is always old. What should be a pure white with blue mold is always sort of a brownish yellow around the rind. It's still edible, but it's worth paying double the price to get it fresh at Whole Foods or a proper cheese shop.

/"White" Stilton with cranberries or apricots or other fruit is an abomination.

Fear the Clam:Jiro Dreams Of McRibs: Having just eaten some English Royal Stilton from Trader Joes, I'm convinced it was aged not on wood but on a pile of dog turds.

You can tell by the color that the Stilton at Trader Joe's is always old. What should be a pure white with blue mold is always sort of a brownish yellow around the rind. It's still edible, but it's worth paying double the price to get it fresh at Whole Foods or a proper cheese shop.

/"White" Stilton with cranberries or apricots or other fruit is an abomination.

Cheese is one of the few things at TJ's that doesn't seem to be really all that good. I do find their cheese prices incredibly low (compared to here in Canada, but even compared to other stores down there) so I always wonder about the quality.

Sane prediction: we'll eventually end up with a warning label placed on cheese aged on wood, allowing for consumers to make an informed and educated choice in their purchases.

Likely prediction: the FDA, at the behest of Kraft, et al, will put these rules forward again, in a much more stealthy manner, leading the public to ignore it because they thought "we already heard this news story".

Shazam999:Fear the Clam: Jiro Dreams Of McRibs: Having just eaten some English Royal Stilton from Trader Joes, I'm convinced it was aged not on wood but on a pile of dog turds.

You can tell by the color that the Stilton at Trader Joe's is always old. What should be a pure white with blue mold is always sort of a brownish yellow around the rind. It's still edible, but it's worth paying double the price to get it fresh at Whole Foods or a proper cheese shop.

/"White" Stilton with cranberries or apricots or other fruit is an abomination.

Cheese is one of the few things at TJ's that doesn't seem to be really all that good. I do find their cheese prices incredibly low (compared to here in Canada, but even compared to other stores down there) so I always wonder about the quality.

/ Their gouda was rubbery and flavourless.

IMHO Germans have never been that good at cheese.

Anything they have at Aldi North (what you know as Trader Joe's) and LIDL here in Denmark has always been bland.

JayCab:Sane prediction: we'll eventually end up with a warning label placed on cheese aged on wood, allowing for consumers to make an informed and educated choice in their purchases.

Likely prediction: the FDA, at the behest of Kraft, et al, will put these rules forward again, in a much more stealthy manner, leading the public to ignore it because they thought "we already heard this news story".

Quite possibly. Some form of licensing system requiring manufacturers to get a permit to age cheese on wood boards would be my guess. Make the permit conditions onerous enough small producers struggle to comply (in the name of 'public safety' of course) and voila, you've heavily stacked the system in favor of Big Cheese and earned that cushy board position that'll be waiting for you.

spawn73:Shazam999: Fear the Clam: Jiro Dreams Of McRibs: Having just eaten some English Royal Stilton from Trader Joes, I'm convinced it was aged not on wood but on a pile of dog turds.

You can tell by the color that the Stilton at Trader Joe's is always old. What should be a pure white with blue mold is always sort of a brownish yellow around the rind. It's still edible, but it's worth paying double the price to get it fresh at Whole Foods or a proper cheese shop.

/"White" Stilton with cranberries or apricots or other fruit is an abomination.

Cheese is one of the few things at TJ's that doesn't seem to be really all that good. I do find their cheese prices incredibly low (compared to here in Canada, but even compared to other stores down there) so I always wonder about the quality.

The Numbers:JayCab: Sane prediction: we'll eventually end up with a warning label placed on cheese aged on wood, allowing for consumers to make an informed and educated choice in their purchases.

Likely prediction: the FDA, at the behest of Kraft, et al, will put these rules forward again, in a much more stealthy manner, leading the public to ignore it because they thought "we already heard this news story".

Quite possibly. Some form of licensing system requiring manufacturers to get a permit to age cheese on wood boards would be my guess. Make the permit conditions onerous enough small producers struggle to comply (in the name of 'public safety' of course) and voila, you've heavily stacked the system in favor of Big Cheese and earned that cushy board position that'll be waiting for you.

fark that. it's going to be passed by congress. congress will discuss a bill, titled Patriotic United States Safe Youth Freedom American Consumer and Trade Act, designed to save children and consumers from the dangers of banks, by removing any requirements for the filing of foreclosure proceedings, and on the 11th hour of debate, paragraph 1476(r)(1)(A)(III)(93)(e) will be added, providing: none shall cheese age on wood.

Shazam999:spawn73: Shazam999: Fear the Clam: Jiro Dreams Of McRibs: Having just eaten some English Royal Stilton from Trader Joes, I'm convinced it was aged not on wood but on a pile of dog turds.

You can tell by the color that the Stilton at Trader Joe's is always old. What should be a pure white with blue mold is always sort of a brownish yellow around the rind. It's still edible, but it's worth paying double the price to get it fresh at Whole Foods or a proper cheese shop.

/"White" Stilton with cranberries or apricots or other fruit is an abomination.

Cheese is one of the few things at TJ's that doesn't seem to be really all that good. I do find their cheese prices incredibly low (compared to here in Canada, but even compared to other stores down there) so I always wonder about the quality.

You know, just an example. (not a totally random example, just saying, if I'm looking for cheese, I'd not go to a German supermarket. Because, they don't quite get it. They try to emulate, but its just wrong.)

ArcadianRefugee:ArkAngel: Gotta love when government makes a rules then says they didn't

They didn't say they didn't make a rule; they said they didn't make a new rule. Which is true:

"The FDA does not have a new policy banning the use of wooden shelves in cheese-making..." (emphasis added).

There was no new policy banning the use of wooden shelves, merely a clarification or whatever of an extant one.

Similar thing happened in Oregon regarding the transporting of home brew.

A brewery that wanted to host a home brew contest contacted the OLCC for a clarification regarding transportation of home brew. Turns out all these years transporting home brew from where it was brewed had been illegal.

It seems it is better to ask forgiveness rather than ask for permission.

meat0918:ArcadianRefugee: ArkAngel: Gotta love when government makes a rules then says they didn't

They didn't say they didn't make a rule; they said they didn't make a new rule. Which is true:

"The FDA does not have a new policy banning the use of wooden shelves in cheese-making..." (emphasis added).

There was no new policy banning the use of wooden shelves, merely a clarification or whatever of an extant one.

Similar thing happened in Oregon regarding the transporting of home brew.

A brewery that wanted to host a home brew contest contacted the OLCC for a clarification regarding transportation of home brew. Turns out all these years transporting home brew from where it was brewed had been illegal.

It seems it is better to ask forgiveness rather than ask for permission.